USS Atlanta (1861)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Atlanta.

A sepia wash drawing of CSS Atlanta by R.G. Skerrett
History
United Kingdom
NameFingal
NamesakeFingal
OwnerHutcheson's West Highland Service
BuilderJ&G Thomson's Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard, Govan, Glasgow
Launched9 May 1861
FateSold to the Confederacy, 1861
General characteristics
Tons burthenAbout 700 tons (bm)
Length189 ft (57.6 m)
Beam25 ft (7.6 m)
Draft12 ft (3.7 m)
Depth of hold15 ft (4.6 m)
Installed power1 Tubular
boiler
Propulsion
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Confederate States
United States
NameCSS/USS Atlanta
NamesakeAtlanta
BuilderAsa and Nelson Tift, Savannah, Georgia
AcquiredSeptember 1861
Commissioned22 November 1862
Decommissioned21 June 1865
Captured17 June 1863, transferred to
US Navy
in February 1864
FateSold to Haiti, 4 May 1869. Lost at sea, December 1869
General characteristics
TypeCasemate ironclad
Displacement1,006 long tons (1,022 t)
Length204 ft (62.2 m)
Beam41 ft (12.5 m)
Draft15 ft 9 in (4.8 m)
Depth of hold17 ft (5.2 m)
Speed7–10 knots (13–19 km/h; 8.1–11.5 mph)
Complement145 officers and men
Armament
  • 2 × 7-inch (178 mm) Brooke rifles
  • 2 × 6.4-inch (163 mm) Brooke rifles
  • 1 x Spar torpedo
  • Naval ram
Armor
  • Casemate: 4 in (102 mm)
  • Hull: 2 in (51 mm)
  • Pilothouse
    : 4 in (102 mm)

Atlanta was a

Haiti
, but was lost at sea in December 1869 on her delivery voyage.

Description and career as Fingal

Fingal was designed and built as a merchantman by

boiler. The engines drove the ship at a top speed of around 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). They had a bore of 39 inches (991 mm) and a stroke of 30 inches (762 mm).[3]

The ship briefly operated between Glasgow and other ports in Scotland for

captain and put out his destination as Bermuda and Nassau in the Bahamas. The cargo was loaded in Greenock in early October, although Bulloch and the other passengers would not attempt to board until they rendezvoused with the ship at Holyhead, Wales. On the night 14/15 October, as she was slowly rounding the breakwater at Holyhead, Fingal rammed and sank the Austrian brig Siccardi, slowly swinging at anchor without lights. Bulloch and the passengers embarked in the steamer while Bulloch dispatched a letter to his financial agents instructing them to settle damages with the brig's owners because he could not afford to take the time to deal with the affair lest he and Fingal be detained.[4] The ship reached Bermuda on 2 November and, after leaving port on 7 November, Bulloch informed the crew that the steamer's real destination was Savannah, Georgia; he offered to take anyone who objected to the plan to Nassau. However, all of the crew agreed to join in the effort to run the Union blockade. Fingal was able to slip safely into the Savannah estuary in a heavy fog on the night of 12 November without sighting any blockaders.[5]

While Fingal was discharging her cargo, Bulloch and Anderson went to

Tybee Island at the mouth of the Savannah River. Bulloch reported to Mallory in late January 1862 that breaking out was hopeless so Mallory ordered him to turn the ship over to another officer and to return to Europe some other way.[7]

As Atlanta

Cross-section of Atlanta

The brothers Asa and Nelson Tift received the contract to convert the blockade runner into an ironclad in early 1862 with the name of Atlanta, after the city in Georgia. This was largely financed by contributions from the women of Savannah.[1] Fingal was cut down to her main deck and large wooden sponsons were built out from the sides of her hull to support her casemate.[8] After the conversion, Atlanta was 204 feet (62.2 m) long overall and had a beam of 41 feet (12 m).[9] Her depth of hold was now 17 feet (5.2 m)[8] and she now had a draft of 15 feet 9 inches (4.8 m). Atlanta now displaced 1,006 long tons (1,022 t)[9] and her speed was estimated at 7–10 knots (13–19 km/h; 8.1–11.5 mph).[10]

The armor of the casemate was angled at 30° from the horizontal and made from two layers of

pilothouse was armored in the same way and had room for two men. The upper portion of Atlanta's hull received 2 inches (51 mm) of armor.[11]

One of Atlanta's 7-inch Brooke rifles in the Washington Navy Yard

The rectangular casemate was pierced with eight narrow

black powder on a wooden pole connected to an iron lever that could be raised or lowered by means of pulleys.[14]

Master's Mate
Frank Beville of the Atlanta in uniform

On 31 July 1862, under the command of Lieutenant

Fort Pulaski.[15] The ship proved to be difficult to steer, and the additional weight of her armor and guns significantly reduced her speed and increased her draft. This latter was a real problem in the shallow waters near Savannah. She also leaked significantly, and her design virtually eliminated air circulation.[1] One report said that "it was almost intolerable on board the Atlanta, there being no method of ventilation, and the heat was intense."[8] Scales commented in his diary, "What a comfortless, infernal and God-forsaken ship!!"[8]

Attempts were made to fix the problems and were at least partially successful in stopping many of the leaks.[16] The ship was commissioned on 22 November

Richard L. Page. Page, in his turn was relieved in May by Commander William A. Webb; Atlanta remained the squadron flagship throughout this time.[17]

Webb demonstrated his aggressiveness when he attempted to sortie on the first spring tide (30 May) after taking command, but Atlanta's forward engine broke down after he had passed the obstructions, and the ship ran aground. She was not damaged although it took over a day to pull her free. He planned to make another attempt on the next full tide, rejecting Mallory's idea that he wait until the nearly complete ironclad

John Rodgers in Weehawken had overall command of the two ships.[18]

A drawing of USS Weehawken capturing Atlanta, 17 June 1863
9 crewmen of the CSS Atlanta after their capture
6 crewmen of the CSS Atlanta after their capture

In the early evening of 15 June, Webb began his next attempt by passing over the lower obstructions in the Wilmington River and spent the rest of the night coaling. He moved forward the next evening to a concealed position within easy reach of the monitors for an attack early the following morning.[1] Webb planned to sink one of the monitors with his spar torpedo and then deal with the other one with his guns.[19] The gunboat Isondiga and the tugboat Resolute[1] were to accompany him to tow one or both of the monitors back to Savannah.[20]

A lookout aboard Weehawken spotted Atlanta at 04:10 on the morning of 17 June. When the latter ship closed to within about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the two Union ships, she fired one round from her bow gun that passed over Weehawken and landed near Nahant. Shortly afterward, Atlanta ran aground on a sandbar; she was briefly able to free herself, but the pressure of the tide pushed her back onto the sandbar. This time Webb was unable to get off and the monitors closed the range. When Weehawken, the leading ship, closed to within 200–300 yards (180–270 m) she opened fire with both of her guns. The 11-inch (279 mm) shell missed, but the 15-inch (381 mm) shell struck the ironclad above the port middle gun port, penetrated her armor and broke the wooden backing behind it, spraying splinters and fragments that disabled the entire gun crew and half the crew of the bow gun, even though it failed to cleanly penetrate through the backing. The next shot from the 11-inch Dahlgren gun struck the upper hull and started a small leak even though it failed to penetrate the two-inch armor there. The next shell from the 15-inch Dahlgren glanced off the middle starboard gun shutter as it was being opened, wounding half the gun's crew with fragments. The final shell was also from the 15-inch Dahlgren and it struck the top of the pilothouse, breaking the armor there and wounding both pilots in it. By this time, Atlanta had been able to fire only seven shots, none of which hit either Union ship, and was hard aground with high tide not due for another hour and a half. Weehawken and Nahant were able to freely maneuver into positions from which the Atlanta's narrow gun ports would not allow her to reply and the damage already inflicted by the former ship made further resistance futile. Webb surrendered his ship within 15 minutes of opening fire, before Nahant even had a chance to fire. Of the ironclad's 21 officers and 124 enlisted men, one man was killed and another sixteen were wounded badly enough to require hospitalization.[21]

In the Union Navy

USS Atlanta on the James River; photo probably by Mathew Brady

Atlanta was easily pulled free by the Union ships and she reached Port Royal under her own power. Not badly damaged, she was repaired and bought by the Union Navy. The

James River where she could support operations against Richmond and defend against a sortie by the ironclads of the James River Squadron. On 21 May 1864, she and the gunboat Dawn fired on and dispersed Confederate cavalry that was attacking Fort Powhatan[1] and she was deployed further upriver in February 1865 after the Battle of Trent's Reach to better blockade the Confederate ironclads at Richmond.[24]

After the end of the war in April, Atlanta was decommissioned in

Delaware Capes.[25][26]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Atlanta". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  2. ^ "The Yards". acumfae Govan. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  3. ^ Emerson, pp. 368, 371, 377
  4. ^ Bullock, pp. 110–15
  5. ^ Scharf, pp. 639–40
  6. ^ Wise, p. 56
  7. ^ Scharf, pp. 640–41
  8. ^ a b c d Emerson, p. 373
  9. ^ a b c Silverstone, p. 151
  10. ^ Emerson, p. 377
  11. ^ Emerson, pp. 371–372, 382
  12. ^ Emerson, p. 372
  13. ^ Olmsted, et al., pp. 126–127, 218, 224
  14. ^ Emerson, p. 375
  15. ^ Scharf, pp. 641–42
  16. ^ Emerson, pp. 371–71
  17. ^ Still, pp. 130–135
  18. ^ Still, pp. 135–136
  19. ^ Still, p. 136
  20. ^ Emerson, p. 381
  21. ^ Emerson, pp. 381–382; Still, pp. 136–137
  22. ^ Emerson, pp. 382, 384
  23. ^ Olmsted, et al., pp. 117–118, 218, 224
  24. ^ Still, p. 186
  25. ^ Holcombe & Silverstone
  26. ^ Scheina, p. 39

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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